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Richard Branson Screw It, Let’s Do It Lessons in Life Richard Branson Harshil Meraiya [email protected] ISBN-13: 978-0-7535-1099-5 www.virgin.com/books ISBN-10: 0-7535-1099-5 www.worldbookday,com Learn the Secretes of a Global Icon Throughout my life I have always strived for success – as a businessman, in my adventures, as an author and a proud father and husband. I want to share the many truths I’ve learned along the road to success which have helped me to be the best I can. They include Have faith in yourself Believe that anything can be done Live life to the full Never give up Learn these and other simple truths, and I hope you will be inspired to get the most out of your life and to achieve your goals. People will always try to talk you out of ideas and say: ’it can’t be done,’ but if you have faith in yourself you’ll find you can achieve almost anything. CONTENTS Introduction 3 1. Just Do It! 6 2. Have Fun! 17 3. Be Bold 32 4. Challenge yourself 44 5. Stand on your own feet 56 6. Live the moment 63 7. Value family and friends 73 8. Have respect 86 9. Do some good 94 Epilogue 107 INTRODUCTION THE PRESS CALL ME and my partners at virgin ‘Mavericks in paradise’. There’s no doubt that we tend to do things in a less stuffy way than most businesses - and I have ended up with two tropical islands to have fun on - so it must be true. And for me it works. I work hard and I play hard. Though I have never followed the rules at every step, I have learned many lessons along the way. My lessons in life started at home when I was young. They carried on at school and in business from as early as my teens when I ran student magazine. I am still learning and hope I never stop. These lessons have done me good throughout my life. I have written them down and I hope that you will find something in these pages that might inspire you. I believe in goals. It's never a bad thing to have a dream, but I'm practical about it. I don’t sit daydreaming about things that are impos- sible. I set goals and then work out how to achieve them. Anything I want to do in life I want to do well and not half-heartedly. At school, I found reading and writing hard. Back then, dyslexia wasn't understood and my teachers just thought I was lazy. So taught myself to learn things by heart. Now I have a very good memory and it has become one of my best tools in business. When I was starting out in life, things were more certain than they are these days. You had a career lined up, often the same one your father followed. Most mothers stayed at home. Today nothing is sure and life is one long struggle. People have to make choices if they are to get anywhere. The best lesson I learned was to just do it. It doesn't matter what it is, or how hard it might seem, as the ancient Greek, Plato, said,’ The beginning is the most important part of any work.’ A journey of a thousand miles starts with that first step. If you look ahead to the end, and all the weary miles between, with all the dangers you might face, you might never take that first step. And whatever it is you want to achieve in life, if you don't make the effort. You won’t reach your goal. So take the first step. There will be many challenges. You might get knocked back - but in the end, you will make it. Good Luck! Richard Branson 1. JUST DO IT! Believe It Can Be Done Have Goals Live Life to Full Never Give Up Prepare Well Have Faith in Yourself Help Each Other THE STAFF AT VIRGIN have a name for me. It is ‘Dr. Yes’. They call me this because I won't say no. I find more reasons to do things than not to do them. My motto really is: 'Screw it let's do it!' I will never say,’I can't do this because I don't know how to.' I will give it a go. I won't let silly rules stop me. I will find a legal way around them. I tell my staff, ‘If you want to do it, just do it.’ That way we all benefit. The staff's work and ideas are valued and Virgin gains from their input and drive. I don't believe that that little word ‘can’t’ should stop you. If you don't have the right experience to reach your goal, look for another way in. If you want to fly, get down to the airfield at the age of sixteen and make the tea. Keep your eyes open. Look and learn. You don't have to go to art school to be a fashion designer. Join a fashion company and push a broom. Work your way up. My mum, Eve, is a perfect example of this. During the war, she wanted to be a pilot. She went to Heston airfield and asked for a job. She was told only men could be pilots. Mum was very pretty and had been a dancer on stage. She didn't look like a man. That didn't stop her. She wore a leather flying jacket and hid her blonde hair under a leather helmet. She talked with a deep voice. And she got the job she wanted. She learned how to glide and began to teach the new pilots. These were the young men who flew fighter planes in the Battle of Britain. After the war, she wanted to be an air hostess. Back then, they had to speak Spanish and be trained as nurses, but Mum chatted up the night porter at the airline and he secretly put her name on the list. Soon, she was an air hostess. She still couldn't speak Spanish and she wasn't a nurse. But she had used her wits. She wouldn't say no. She just did it. Mum wasn't the only person in our family who said, 'Let's do it!' The famous explorer, captain Robert Scott, was my grandad’s cousin. He was a man of great courage. He made two trips to the Antarctic. His goal was to be the first man to the South Pole. People said it couldn’t be done. He said,’I can do it.' And he nearly did it. He reached the South Pole, but he was second. Roald Amundsen got there first. It was a great blow for Scott. He died on the return journey. When people say there are no prizes for being second, I think of him. He is famous for being second to the South Pole. He also made the first balloon flight over Antarctica, but people don't remember that. I started student magazine when I was fifteen years old and still at school. Some people said I couldn't do it. They said I was too young and had no experience. But I wanted to prove them wrong and I believed it could be done. I did my sums with care. I worked out how much the paper and print bill would be. Then I worked out the income from sales and from selling advertising space. Mum gave me four pounds for stamps. My school friend, Jonny Gems, and I spent almost two years writing hundreds of letters trying to sell space. I also tried to get interviews with famous people. Writing those letters and waiting for the replies was more fun then Latin lessons. It gave me a huge buzz when we got our first cheque for advertising space. It was £250, a huge amount. My belief had paid off. I wasn't very good at passing exams at school. I knew I would do better on my own in the world. My parents let me make that choice. They were behind me, whatever I did. So I left school when I was sixteen to work full time on student . Jonny and I camped out in the base- ment of his parent's London house. It was great to be young and free and in London. We drank beer, had girlfriends and listened to loud music. We were like students who didn't have to study. We worked just as hard, though. I got some first- rate interviews, with john Lennon, Mick Jagger,Vanessa, Redgrave and Dudley Moore. We had more famous names than some of the top magazines. Famous people started dropping by. Life in the basement was glorious chaos. It was like a non-stop party. But we had a serious side as well. We sent our own people out to cover the big issues of the day, like the war in Vietnam and the famine in Biafra. We felt we were changing things. What we did was important as well as fun. We were a close-Knit team. Even my family helped to the park and sold them there. Each time a chance came, we grabbed it. We branched out by being the first people to sell cut-price records by mail order - the first advert went in the last edition of student.
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